A series of adverts dealing with the messy issue of personal hygiene has been given a clean bill of health today, with Andrex being cleared by the Advertising Standards Authority.

The "Could you be cleaner?" press ads for wet toilet wipes that appeared in many national papers had been considered by the ASA under an advertising code clause for taste and decency.

The watchdog received more than 60 objections to the three Andrex ads. Most came from a consumer pressure group, the Tyneside Consumer Group, with a small number from members of the public.

The first ad in the series to receive a complaint was a full-page image of a woman's backside in yellow knickers featuring a cartoon monkey holding its nose.

Another of the ads shows a woman whose rose tattoo on the small of her back has wilted just above her black underwear, while a third features a horrified dragon emblazoned across the back of a pair of boxer shorts. The dragon appears to be escaping from the man's bottom.

All three of the ads carried the slogan, "Could you be cleaner?".

The complainants objected that the ads were "offensive, inappropriate for display in a newspaper and demeaning to women". One person objected that the ad featuring a man was offensive and demeaning to men.

Andrex has responded by saying it had not intended to offend and acknowledged that the subject was a delicate one that had to be broached with caution.

The ASA backed Andrex's claims that it had "been careful not to use images that were gratuitous or titillating, but relevant for a product that was used on the bottom".

Andrex was also quick to point out that its slogan was intentionally posed as a question, rather than a statement, so as not to offend.

"It was intended, not to imply poor personal hygiene, but to provoke thought and encourage consumers to consider options about their toileting habits."

The watchdog accepted that the complainants thought the ads were offensive but considered the ads dealt with a "sensitive" product in a non-gratuitous way that was intended to be lighthearted.

The ASA ruled that the ads were "unlikely to cause serious or widespread offence or to demean either sex".